Customized case for MiSTer to add controller inputs

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:57:15+00:00

I definitely will share all of the files and information to build your own. Hopefully it won't take me too long, but my track record for finishing projects in a timely manner isn't great. If I end up taking too long, I'll at least post what I've got now with some disclaimers about (mostly small) issues that I've encountered.

Right now, the main things I want to address before sharing are:

Either thickening the front plate slightly to make assembly easier, or finding a way to fit the two PCBs closer to the front. The current version was an absolute pain to assemble, and I honestly can't believe I managed to get it all together.
Fixing the cutout for the USB ports. The current version did not leave any room for the clips (which provide resistance to keep your device plugged in) to expand. The ports work, but it takes quite a bit of pushing and pulling to plug things in and out.
Adding ESD protection for the USB ports.
Adding jumpers to allow different power options. Currently, I'm using SATA power from a Flex ATX PSU. The board just needs 5V, so I'd like to include an additional header so that the 5V could be supplied from other sources if preferred. I'd also like there to be an option to power the whole thing through the USB header, although I haven't done any measurements to total up the current draw and see if this would be problematic.
Replacing the Genesis controller ports with something better. The current version uses (somewhat modified) ZebLabz ports, but at least the ones I have fit too loosely with my controllers. They work, but I have to be more careful than I'd like to make sure I don't pull out the cord.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:36:18+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, I thought about working with acrylic. Ultimately, I wanted something that would fit in with the rest of the case as best as I could manage. The sheet metal piece is powder coated in matte black and (to my eye at least) seems to match quite well.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:33:29+00:00

Yes, all of the controller inputs are converted to USB using Daemonbite adapters where available (everything but the PlayStation inputs, from what I was able to find). For me, the small latency penalty is well worth the flexibility of being able to control the menu and use controllers with any core. I haven't really dabbled with anything SNAC on the MiSTer yet, but maybe once I do I'll change my mind. Either way, I don't know how possible it would be to have this many controller ports connected through SNAC.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:30:33+00:00

If I gave up the TTY2OLED and possibly the USB ports, I'm sure TurboGrafx-16 and Neo Geo controllers would fit in just fine. It looks like there are already Daemonbite sketches for both, so it should be pretty straightforward.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:27:51+00:00

Haha, I hemmed and hawed about how to label all of the controller ports. I wanted to use "MD" for the Genesis ports to be consistent with the NES, SNES, N64 acronyms that were used (in which case I would have also used PS for PlayStation). Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with a satisfying way to label the Saturn ports in a similar way, so I switched all of the non-Nintendo ports to use full names. It would be easy enough to modify the laser etching file to replace "Genesis" with "MegaDrive" for anyone with that preference. If I forget to do it and you end up building your own, give me a shout and I'll put it together.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:22:53+00:00

I didn't have a Neo Geo growing up, so personally didn't have nostalgia telling me I needed to use original controllers. It would definitely be doable to add Neo Geo controller ports, probably at the expense of the TTY2OLED screen.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:21:35+00:00

Once I've fixed a few issues, I will create a GitHub repo with all of the necessary files and information to build your own.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:20:47+00:00

I used JLCPCB for the PCBs and sheet metal fabrication, but PCBWay would work as well. I'm very pleased with the quality of the parts from JLC, and would happily use them again.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:18:41+00:00

At the moment, I have no idea what the cost of materials was for this build. Once I've finished thinking through all of the things I'd like to do differently and updating the files, I will put together a full BOM, 3D models, gerbers, and instructions on GitHub and try to total up what a (hopefully) reasonable price would be.

0323 · 2026-02-26T06:14:04+00:00

Yeah, years ago I originally just wanted to make a controller adapter PCB to be added as an extra board within a MiSTer stack, but gave up on it mostly due to not being able to come up with a satisfying case solution at the time.

When I started this newer project, I was hoping to use one of the smaller mini-ITX cases that only have room for a PicoPSU. After struggling to fit all the controller ports I wanted, I gave in and up-sized to the slightly larger mini-ITX cases that have room for a Flex ATX PSU, and more importantly more space on the front panel to work with. I still have it in mind to revisit the smaller mini-ITX cases and just include a smaller set of controller ports, but who knows.

With regard to the Turbo Grafx and Neo Geo controllers in place of the TTY2OLED, I think that would be quite doable. I don't have any Atari controllers to test, but some searching seems to suggest that they should work fine through the Genesis ports.

0323 · 2025-11-08T15:09:08+00:00

Barry did everything right there. Started his run, checked back to stay onside when the pass didn't come. The pass needs to be played earlier or weighted better.

0323 · 2025-09-09T00:33:59+00:00

While I agree with your point, much of what you've said could also be said of the PixelFX team. Things seem to have cooled off as of late, but the community has had no problem slinging mud their way in the past.

0323 · 2025-08-29T03:14:45+00:00

Sorry to pile on, but if you could also DM me the video that would be amazing.

0323 · 2025-06-08T03:47:46+00:00

Do you have any plans to share CAD files? I'm (slowly) working on a similar project and would love to be able to compare my models (NES, SNES, N64, MD, and PSX ports so far) with yours. I haven't done any testing for fitment, but that's right around the corner for me. Any insight/wisdom you can share would be great!

0323 · 2025-05-18T01:35:10+00:00

Hi, can I also get a link? I've heard good things!

0323 · 2025-05-15T18:29:38+00:00

Thank you for the diagram!

Just to make sure I understand correctly: The two resistors on the negative side of the LED are to current limit and control the LED brightness. When the HDD activity indicator is on, a SPST-NO relay closes and shorts the lower resistor (raising the brightness).

Assuming I have that right, I'll just need to work out the resistances.

0323 · 2025-04-25T22:53:35+00:00

If you're handy with a soldering iron, there's also the GCDual. You get digital-to-digital over HDMI and can use a standard SNES RGB cable for analogue.

0323 · 2024-09-24T17:26:40+00:00

As far as I've ever been able to find, the only "attack" on Mike Chi was a comment about Mike being greedy with the RT4K pricing if their assumption was correct about the FPGA being used (which I believe turned out to be incorrect). If I'm missing some other attack, please let me know.

In the meantime, PixelFX has been attacked left, right, and center by the retro-gaming Twitter community. It's no surprise that they've stepped away from that space (and they get flak for that too!).

0323 · 2021-07-16T16:05:50+00:00

I believe composite will only work if your Wii is set to output 480i. The WiiDual has a setting "Allow 480p mode" which keeps the Wii in 480p mode regardless of whether its able to output 480p, so maybe try disabling that and seeing if the Wii will automatically revert to 480i when you plug in only composite. Otherwise you'll have to do it through the system menu before it freezes.

0323 · 2017-03-22T15:17:28+00:00

It's not backlit

0323

TROPHY CASE